Coperitas optimizes transfer pricing software

Multinational corporations are tasked with establishing fair and market-based price agreements for goods and services exchanged internationally within their organization, a practice known as transfer pricing. Companies must negotiate this intricate landscape of international tax laws to ensure compliance across various jurisdictions. Coperitas has automated this process using AWS technology, with the AWS environment being refined in collaboration with inQdo. The management of the environment has now been seamlessly transitioned to inQdo.

In the intricate realm of international tax law, establishing accurate price agreements among components of multinational corporations presents a formidable challenge. Coperitas, a leader in the field of transfer pricing software, offers clients an automated solution built on an AWS infrastructure. "Transfer pricing is a niche within the vast fiscal world, but it's crucial for multinationals," says Mike van Vuuren, co-owner of Coperitas. "Suppose you are a bicycle manufacturer with branches in the Netherlands, Germany, and Belgium. The internal price agreements and reports between these locations must be fair and comply with international tax laws."

Immediate connection

Coperitas faced the challenge of optimising and fortifying its Amazon Web Services (AWS) environment following the transition to in-house development. "Initially, our software was developed in collaboration with a third party. A few years ago, we continued in-house development. Given that our system was already running on AWS, a leading platform backed by a robust organization, alternative providers were not under consideration," stated Van Vuuren. A Coperitas developer was connected with inQdo, a company renowned for its expertise in AWS technology, prompting a discussion. "Right from our initial interaction, we clicked. InQdo, with their deep understanding of our background and challenges, instilled in us a sense of confidence in their capabilities. We felt deeply understood during that meeting. Subsequently, it became evident to me: we shall embark on this journey together."

Cost-Neutral Optimization

Coperitas recently had the privilege of undergoing the 'Well-Architected Review' (WAR) by Amazon. The AWS WAR is a comprehensive evaluation process meticulously crafted to analyze and enhance cloud architectures in alignment with AWS best practices. This systematic assessment assists developers and enterprises in refining their cloud systems across five pivotal pillars: operational excellence, security, reliability, performance efficiency, and cost optimization. The review empowers organizations with in-depth insights into their existing AWS utilization and offers recommendations for enhancing their environments. "By implementing the recommendations, we received a reward from Amazon in the form of credits. We used these credits to pay for inQdo's services, meaning we could optimize our infrastructure at no additional cost," says Van Vuuren.

Faster response

Among other benefits provided by inQdo, the company streamlined the application deployment process for Coperitas, a critical factor for software developers. Previously, Coperitas dedicated significant time to implementing updates and new features, a crucial aspect of continuously enhancing its transfer pricing software. Leveraging inQdo's expertise in optimizing AWS services and processes, this time-consuming process was significantly reduced. "The optimization has allowed us to deploy updates within 15 minutes, a vast improvement from the previous hours it took. This enhancement enables us to promptly address our customers' requirements, allocating more time to innovation rather than waiting for change implementations. This substantial increase in productivity and efficiency represents a significant achievement," stated Van Vuuren. This optimization not only enhanced the speed and responsiveness of Coperitas but also elevated customer satisfaction levels by facilitating the swift rollout of new features and updates.

Managed by inQdo

After realizing the improvements in their AWS environment, Coperitas chose to outsource the complete management of their AWS infrastructure to inQdo. "Outsourcing AWS management means that we can focus on our core activities, confident that our cloud infrastructure is in capable hands," emphasizes Van Vuuren. Notably, he lauds the meticulous cost management provided by inQdo. Van Vuuren underscores the potential pitfalls of overlooking costs when utilizing AWS features, as any oversight could result in significant and unforeseen expenses. "Suppose we select a feature in AWS but are unaware of the associated costs; this can lead to unexpectedly high costs. We would only see this after a month, as AWS bills monthly. InQdo monitors these kinds of issues in real-time and raises the alarm when they notice anything unusual. This is one of the main reasons for placing management with inQdo. I prefer to have this properly covered by a partner for whom this is a daily business and who immediately warns when adjustments are made in the settings that have a significant impact."

Accelerated onboarding

The partnership between Coperitas and inQdo has optimized Coperitas' internal processes and positively affected their customers, especially regarding the onboarding process. Previously, onboarding new clients was a time-consuming process that could take up to three weeks, mainly due to extensive IT security checks and filling out complex questionnaires. "We are talking to an organization's tax department," explains Van Vuuren. "If it were up to them, they’d start using our tool tomorrow. However, they lack an IT, legal, or security background; obviously, those departments must also be involved in this purchase. It's convenient that we can now immediately provide the tax department with policies and descriptions that they can send along with their application to the other departments. These policies and descriptions are so complete that nowadays, we either receive only a few questions or get direct approval. As a result, we have reduced the onboarding time for new clients from weeks to just one day."

Perfect collaboration

Van Vuuren and his team feel the collaboration between Coperitas and inQdo is integral to their success. Through inQdo's AWS management and optimization expertise, they have realised a robust, secure, and efficient cloud infrastructure essential for delivering their advanced transfer pricing software. "Working with inQdo feels like an extension of our own team. They are proactive, the contact is easy, and the communication lines are short. I also really appreciate that the people at inQdo are proactive and ring the bell when they see something out of the ordinary. To me, this is the perfect collaboration," concludes Van Vuuren.